Crows slaughter Hawks at MCG

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Adelaide breathed life into its season and sent Hawthorn tumbling to the bottom of the AFL ladder with a 86-point slaughter at the MCG.

With captain Mark Ricciuto best afield in his 250th game and aging champions Andrew McLeod and Wayne Carey creating several goals with flashes of their best form, the Crows lifted themselves to within a game of the top eight with a 20.13 (133) to 6.11 (47) win.

After scoring the first two goals through Peter Everitt's dominant ruckwork, Hawthorn managed only four more for the game.

Meanwhile, the Crows kicked 20, led by four each to Carey and Mark Stevens in his first game for the season.

Ricciuto, who chipped in with three goals himself, controlled the midfield helped by Tyson Edwards, Graeme Johncock and McLeod.

The slaughter was in stark contrast to the corresponding game last year, when the Hawks kickstarted their season with a five-point win in round 11.

The result, which equalled the Crows' largest winning margin over the Hawks, will give Adelaide coach Gary Ayres some respite from questions about his future.

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Hawks' coach Peter Schwab is unlikely to be so lucky.

His horrific day went from bad to worse in the final term when captain Shane Crawford, who had been barely sighted all day, was helped from the ground with what appeared a serious wrist injury.

Hawthorn had few winners, though Everett and Angelo Lekkas were prominent early.

Nathan Thompson battled hard in his comeback game after revealing his battle with clinical depression but spent most of the game in attack and had few opportunities.